Disclosure
by Anne Camp aka Obi-quiet
Summary: Reno really isn't stupid. Nine times out of ten he completely understands what comes out of his mouth, and has a pretty good idea about the remaining ten percent. Stupid is just his facade, so naturally it wouldn't take those closest to him very long to figure that out. He'd known that. Now it was out of his hands and he just had to hope he'd survive the night.


Warning: Unbeta'd

 _Time: After Advent Children_

Reno really, _really_ wished he could just go to _7_ _th_ _Heaven_. He could use some high-class booze right now. After all, it could very well be the last time he could have a good drink. However, he knew from experience that people there might interfere with his upcoming...conversation. Eh, scratch that, they _would_ interfere, one way or another, especially with everything that had just happened with Kadaj and Sephiroth and Geostigma.

So instead, he sat at the bar of a run-down, out-of-the-way joint that only sold cheap liquor, staring at the dents and dings on the somewhat flat surface that had obviously been scavenged from the ruins of Midgar. He didn't know what it had originally been, but 'bar' didn't make the top options. Then again, it had enough dirt caked on top of it that he couldn't really tell.

Behind him, the door opened, and he had to consciously tell himself to stay relaxed. No matter where this night led, tensing up and freaking out would not help. He couldn't help how he mentally braced himself though. However, to his surprise (and mild relief), a familiar, bald and dark-skinned man sat next to him. Reno didn't look up at him.

"Huh, Guess I shouldn't be surprised that Tsung sent you," he finally commented, and if his tone held far too much bitterness, well, could anyone blame him?

"My responsibility," the terse man responded.

Reno snorted and they fell into silence. After a few minutes, the red-head finally let out a long sigh.

"Lemme buy you a drink."

"I don't drink on the job."

He'd been expecting that, but it had been worth a shot. So Reno shrugged. "Suit yourself."

"Explain."

Reno almost smiled. Almost. Directly to business then? How very Rude-like. Reno finally looked over at his long-time partner in his sunglasses (despite the dim lighting around them) and raised an eyebrow.

"Gonna have to be a little more specific than that."

"How long?"

The younger Turk's eyes narrowed as he considered his options. He could continue to beat around the bush and push his partner's patience, or he could give in. Under normal circumstances, he would never consider giving in no matter who else was on the other end of the conversation. These were not normal circumstances.

So he shook his head and allowed some of his frustration to show. "You got me all wrong. Thought you, Tsung and the boss would know me better by now."

"Your actions say otherwise."

He hummed as a small smirk made its way onto his lips before he took another sip (eh, who is he fooling, it was an outright chug) of the amber liquid that _burned_ as it went down. Maybe choosing this place wasn't such a bad idea after all.

"You didn't think so at the time."

"'Together we can rebuild Shinra,'" Rude muttered, quoting what Reno had said a few days earlier. The red-head scoffed but the other man continued. "Stupidity is your mask, not you. You _knew_ that would drive Strife away. The boss almost had him convinced."

"And if you're talking this much, you're serious." So he decided to give straight answers, no matter how that went against his training and natural personality. It was the least he owed his partner. He wondered how long it took for Rude (and most likely, Rufus) to realize that he'd said that on purpose. He'd hoped it would be a little longer, but honestly was pretty happy that the 'peace' had lasted this long.

Rude's gaze hadn't left the younger man's features. "Reno, are you a threat to Shinra?"

Reno emptied the glass and set it on the bar with a hard, sharp thud. Then he turned completely to face the bald man.

"To Rufus? No. That kid has my loyalty now, has had it since he took over and always will. I'll protect him with my life, just like I promised."

Rude frowned, obviously noting the inconsistencies with that statement because while the red-head _had_ (purposefully) undermined Rufus, his actions didn't align with his words.

It wasn't supposed to make sense, Reno supposed. This was life, after all, and it didn't end up tied up in a neat little package, no matter how much money someone threw at it. The boss would do well to learn that.

Rude continued to study his partner, who consciously tried to stay open. Reno could lie, very well, but Rude had always been able to see through him. He wasn't trying to hide anything now, and his long-time partner had (thankfully) picked up on that. Rude had been there when Reno had purposefully undermined Rufus in front of Cloud, but he'd also been right by his side and done everything they could to stop the Remnants from hurting Rufus (and what good _that_ had done). They'd saved kids and fought the half alien brats and played their misdirection. Rude had worked with Reno to help Blondie stop Sephiroth – _again –_ and they'd succeeded.

But then, that was a lot of the problem.

Reno noticed the other patrons had seen the potential altercation between the two Turks and were quickly vacating the bar. Good. If this came down to it, there would be fewer witnesses...and casualties.

He waited until they were more or less alone before he spoke.

"You know, looking back, I really hated working for Shinra. Not Rufus, mind you, but his old man." He saw Rude's brow furrow and continued on nonchalantly (and if there was a slight rush to his words, 1he knew his partner wouldn't' call him on it). "Oh, don't get me wrong, working with the Turks was great, even – especially – back then. But Rupurt Shinra had a bad habit of makin' things he couldn't control, and then takin' even worse action to stop it."

He shrugged. "I knew what I was getting' into when I joined. I didn't have any issues with that. I was workin' fer the company and it was gonna change everythin'. Keep the peace and all that."

"You didn't care about that when you joined," Rude pointed out. His face could have been carved from stone, but Reno knew what to look for and heard the dry undertone.

"Nah, but it didn't hurt. Always figured you had to break a few eggs to make an omelet, and if I had to do the breakin', then more fun for me. We were both there when the Commanders deserted, though, at the end of the war. You saw the documents. Takin' down terrorists like the original AVALANCHE? I was all for that. They chose to hurt society to make a point. But the Commanders never had the choice. And the Deepground brats? They never had a chance.

"Rupurt didn't care. He didn't see anyone else as _a person_."

"But?" Rude prompted after a long silence.

"But I didn't know that back then. Prob'ly the smartest thing that man ever did. Woulda continued on in ignorant bliss...but then he ordered the plate."

If Rude's face had been stone-cold before, it went completely blank now. Reno could imagine him blinking his eyes behind those glasses as he tried to wrap his head around that. Good.

"I saw the records," the red-head went on. "Over 40,000 people died and almost that many more in casualties. No real rescue efforts were made for anyone, either above or below plate. No compensation. No nothin'. And he ordered _me_ to push that button. And I did it, like any good little, brainless soldier...I mean Turk." He didn't care how derisive or disgusted his tone sounded at that.

"Reno," Rude started, but the red-head waved him off.

"Oh, I know it's on his head. I know it was all his idea and his order and what not. Doesn't stop the fact that I was the one that destroyed that pillar." His hands clenched into fists. He hadn't told this to anyone, and he of all people knew what 'bottling up' things like this did. It was all he could do right now to not let himself explode. If he so much as swore, he knew it would pop the lid right off and he'd be yelling at the top of his lungs. It took every ounce of self-control he possessed to keep everything on a manageable level. His life depended on it. So did his sanity, now that he thought about it.

"I still hear it sometimes,you know. The plate crashing down. But they were casualties of war, pawns and sacrifices made for the good of the company." He felt bile rise in his throat but forced it back down. "I can't help but think that the people who got smashed had it easy." He downed another long swallow from the glass the bartender had refilled before high-tailing it out of there and watched his companion out of the corner of his eye.

There, a twitch of the eyebrow. Confusion.

Reno sighed again. "The bottom of that thing wasn't even. Tubing, plating, sewage, it wasn't exactly smooth grating or what not. Shinra never cared what the 'skies' of the slum looked like. So it goes to reason that there were pockets of space between the plate and the ground. And people had basements too..." He was really regretting that last drink now with how his stomach churned at the thought.

"You weren't there when they started to clean up Sector 7 after Meteor. You chose to stay behind and protect the boss. I don't blame ya. But...I had ta go. When they got to Sector 7...that was the first time anyone had even _tried_ to clean it up. They found what was left of people huddled in those pockets and basements. People who had no way of ever gettin' out. Kids, Rude. Can you imagine a 2-year-old wakin' up in _complete darkness_ , findin' his family dead and then slowly starvin' to death because he was _trapped_ by who knows how many _tons_ of plating above him?"

Yeah, that last drink _really_ wasn't doing him any favors right now.

"You've gone soft," Rude said finally.

Reno snorted. "Right, Turks are supposed to cut off all feelin'. Turks are supposed to be emotionless robots who live only for the company. But Turks are _still human_. And we ain't all psychopaths either." On second thought, he could use another drink. The bartender had long-since gone, though. Grumbling, Reno stood up and reached over the bar for a bottle. He didn't care what it was.

He managed to fish something somewhat decent from the space and pried the cork out with his teeth. He didn't even bother going for the glass. The burning liquid did nothing for his stomach, but it did help calm his nerves a bit.

"An' _then_ , we have ta go off and almost kill ourselves to put down the monster they created. You know, the one that _can't seem to stay dead_. We didn't even do it in the end. _Couldn't_ do it. Had to wait for Blondie to do it for us."

In all truth, Reno was happy to let Cloud have all the credit and strength. Between the Mako and the Jenova cells, he was perfectly happy to be a normal human, thank you very much. That didn't mean it didn't get on his nerves that the world had almost ended because of the company he'd worked for – because they just wanted to cover up and put on a good face for the public instead of addressing the real issues. He could get that, to an extent, but really, everything could have been handled far better if they'd cared enough to try and help the _most powerful people in the world_ with their PTSD and what not.

"They're gonna find out about Deepground sooner or later," he continued, knowing Rude would understand he'd referred to new AVALANCHE. "Probably when it all hits the fan some way."

Rude looked away, contemplating. "I thought that was destroyed."

Reno snorted. "If you believe that, then ya probably believe Sephiroth is really dead."

One eyebrow twitched, raising just a little in inquiry. "You don't think he is?"

"We ain't that lucky," Reno muttered, taking another swig from the bottle. This one wasn't too bad, actually. Had a decent flavor. Or maybe he was just getting drunk to a point where anything tasted good. He doubted it, though. He hadn't been drinking _that_ long. "And if he _is_ dead, then someone even worse will come along."

"But bring your Jenovas and your Sephiroths. We'll do as life dictates and stop them every time," Rude said softly.

Reno's smile this time was far more genuine and gentle.

"Yeah. Who woulda thought we'd here somethin' like that outta Rufus Shinra's mouth." He still remembered the frankly stunned look he'd exchanged with Rude when they'd heard that over their communications device.

The red-head sat the bottle down on the counter in front of him with a dull thud.

"Rufus Shinra is growin' up to be a great guy. He's someone I can protect, even after everythin'. But he does better from the shadows. It's better for him, better for the world and better for us." They still had to field the occasional assassination attempt. It would be far easier to accomplish when the potential target wasn't a terribly public figure.

He turned to match gazes with his partner, who had taken off his glasses. Well, good. At least he got how serious this all was.

"Am I a threat to Rufus Shinra? No. I'll protect that kid until the day I die, but I won't let the Shinra Electric Company be built up again. Not by him or anyone else. _Ever._ " Not when it's downfall had been so good for more or less everyone but Jenova, Sephiroth and the Remnants.

Rude scrutinized Reno for several seconds before he put his sunglasses back on and stood. He'd be taking the conversation he'd just recorded back to Tsung and Rufus. The chances that Reno would survive the night were slim to none. He didn't have any delusions. But at least he'd get the chance now. Actually, the fact that they'd given him that much really should say how valuable he was to the company. Really, he should be honored.

"Tell the Boss I said 'hi'," he said to his partner as the bald man walked away without so much as a goodbye. His cold mannerisms were comforting. Meant that he had a better chance at living through this.

He heard Rude pause. "Don't do anything stupid."

Like run. Yeah, he knew. Still, he'd been serious for far too long, and now that the tension was gone...

"Whatever. You'll be able to find me at _7_ _th_ _Heaven_ later." He knew Rude would frown at that. 3...2...1...

"Reno," the warning weighed heavily in his voice.

Reno laughed. It may have been a bit forced, but he was happy he could at this point.

"Heh, just kiddin'. You're losin' your touch."

Rude grunted and left Reno sitting at the dirty bar, all alone.

xXx

He wasn't sure whether to call the fact that he'd woken up with a headache the size of Meteor the next morning a curse or a blessing. On the one hand, he hadn't been killed by another Turk. On the other, couldn't they have at least _attempted_ to put him out of his misery?

Reno decided that he really needed to fix his increasingly morbid sense of humor.

xXx

For those of you waiting for Dangers of Foresight, I almost have the next chapter complete. I actually got sidetracked by my own original story, which I am almost finished with as well. FYI and thanks for the patience.


End file.
